Seeing the Light
by chaos-entropy
Summary: The story of how an ordinary scientist named Ricardo came to the beautiful sunny burg of Desert Bluffs, and was smothered with affection by the local radio host. (Kevin/non-canon character Ricardo the Scientist genfic.)


When Ricardo first arrives in Desert Bluffs, there is, admittedly, a culture shock. He has never seen a community quite like this, and it piques his interest immensely. The desert town where the residents are perpetually happy and every creature comfort and communal project is funded by the hard work of the drones, flitting in and out of the hive that is Strex Corp's main building, an enormous, palatial complex that seems to glitter in the midday sun.

Strex Corp had made their appearance at his university's postgraduate careers fair. Ricardo had just finished his PhD in physics. The Strex recruiters shake his hand vigorously, extremely keen to interview him over the telephone after a brief look through his resume. "Don't call us. We'll call you." They say, smiles never faltering. They happily pet his shoulder in turn, and Ricardo goes on his merry way.

There's still a career path in the military available to Ricardo, or perhaps another job at a research lab in the city on one of the rainiest areas of the East Coast. Ricardo's dream – at least, what he _thought _was his dream – is to become a scientist at CERN. Clean living in Switzerland, being paid to work amongst the top minds in various scientific fields. Heaven.

But... He looks at the flyer in his hand. He hasn't dared to crumple it up or throw it away, and has it neatly folded in his pocket. He reads it on his commutes to and from his current job, a drudgery carried out in an office above a work floor that makes small parts for computers. He even takes it out to read in the break room, and while his databases and spreadsheets are processing on a computer that hasn't been replaced since at least the year 2005.

He enjoys looking at the pictures. There are several printed throughout the flyer, but the most eye-catching is the one featuring joyful-looking Strex employees at a company picnic. Ricardo looks over his cubicle at the other data entry clerks and sees nothing but misery on their faces. The steely gray weather that morning doesn't help the situation any, and nor does the presence of a corpulent boss who stomps in every two hours to bark something about "targets and productivity" before sauntering back into his private office.

Ricardo doesn't notice the subliminal messages written into the text of Strex's recruitment pamphlet, clandestinely written in a color of ink that's hard to distinguish with the naked eye, but perfectly visible on a subconscious level.

Going to the town of 'Desert Bluffs', the headquarters of Strex Corp Synernists Incorporated, would involve a cross-country move. Ricardo asks every Californian he knows if they're aware of a quiet burg called Desert Bluffs, near the border with Arizona. They shrug.

He details his classmates about the recruiters at the fair that day, only to be met with silence, or an assertion that they didn't see anybody fitting Ricardo's description at the careers fair.

Ricardo even wonders if he's dreamed it all. Impossible. He was well-rested that day, and he knows he saw two men in sleek black designer suits with dark golden ties and a brooch on their lapels – a pyramid containing the letter 'S'. They shook his hand firmly and were very glad to have met him. Ricardo can remember just how genuine those smiles seemed. Perhaps, he reasons, they were very, very selective in the kinds of candidates they would consider. Not everyone graduated top of the class.

Finally, Ricardo gives his notice in at work, and takes to sitting around his apartment, waiting for that one precious phone call. He even acquires a habit of bringing his cell and his house phone into his bedroom, just in case Strex call him late at night due to the time difference.

The phone rings during breakfast one morning, and Ricardo no longer has to get irritated with a telemarketer, or hurry through a conversation with his friends.

"Good morning!" The voice down the phone chirps. "Do I have the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Ricardo de Souza?"

"Uh, speaking!" Ricardo stutters, and clears his throat to compose himself.

No sooner than he confirms his name, the caller exhales in what sounds like rapture, then continues on as if imparting the best news he's ever heard. "Dr. de Souza, on behalf of all of us at Strex Corp Synernists Incorporated, we would like to thank you for attending our recruitment programme at you careers fair!"

"You're welcome." Ricardo smiles, in spite of himself.

After some insipid phone conversation, including a few questions he had about Desert Bluffs – all answered pragmatically by the representative, who assures him Strex want all of their workers to be happy. The CEO regularly comes down onto the work floor, Strex offers amazing benefits based on productivity, and they make sure they have the latest equipment for whichever job Ricardo could do, with "such eminent credentials."

The representative goes on to say that Ricardo might best fit into the laboratories where Strex experiment in 'synernising' energy. Ricardo has no idea what that means, but before he can ask if they mean _synergising_, the representative segues into: "So, are you ready for your phone interview? Or, if it all goes very well – which I'm sure it will! – the rest of our life?"

Ricardo breathes out. "_Yes_."

* * *

As it turns out, Ricardo passes the interview with flying colors. The phone operator cheerily tells him as much when they're done. All he has to do now is sign his work contract, which will be mailed to him ASAP, and also fill out a form from Strex that will smooth along his move to Desert Bluffs. Ricardo is promised that there will be a vacant house waiting for him, and a full welcoming committee at his new workplace.

"Welcome to the family, Dr. de Souza! We at Strex are _so _glad to have a new face amongst our ranks! We'll be seeing you in about a month! Isn't that exciting? Well, Dr. de Souza, I hope you have an absolutely _wonderful _day, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Bye bye!"

Ricardo puts down the phone and exhales, pacing around his apartment. He still can't believe this has happened. He's now an adult. He's not an unemployed young graduate with plans to move back into his mother's house now his tenancy is coming to a close and the rent's gone up too much. He's now a fully-fledged adult with a career and a home to make his own, even if it is across the country, and never in his life has he gone anywhere further than North Carolina, to stay with his grandparents in the summer.

He takes to checking his post box every single day, even catching up with the postman at one point to see if there's any mail for him from California. Ricardo also decides to look up Desert Bluffs online, but doesn't find very much information. Strex Corp have a large, flashy and professional website, but there are no Yelp reviews of local businesses, no travel blogs, there's no website for the local sheriff's office or the newspaper, and the images of the town he can find on non-Strex websites aren't very good quality. It _is _a small town, after all – he supposes Internet access might be a luxury in the desert, and that it's not often visited due to being in the middle of nowhere. It happens, right?


End file.
